With the advent of HTML5, which enables websites to do
amazing things, the realm of
file-sharing sites has definitely grown with newer options that make the whole experience a lot more seamless. You can drag and drop onto websites, in interesting ways you couldn’t (or could with limited results) with the web apps you may be used to, like the defunct
Drop.io or Mediafire. It may be easier to use desktop programs, like
Dropbox (which you now use to sync folders
outside the main one), but it never hurts to explore other alternatives that offer similar features.
We’ll take a look at some of the newer web-based storage and file-sharing sites that despite their simple looks, offer convenient drag-and-drop, as well as, shortened URLs and statistics (something that most desktop programs don’t provide yet).
With Crate, you get a beautiful and ad-free site where you can upload files of up to 50 MB by drag and dropping them onto the website and copy the shortened link to share with whomever. You can have up to 6 different crates or workspaces for a total of 200MB of storage space, which you can track if you sign up for a free account. Once signed in, you can see the number of views and downloads for your files. Though you can share an entire crate, you can’t download it since you still have to click on each file to download it. You will also need a compatible browser to get the most of out Crate, as you can’t drag and drop files in IE9.
Here is another simple,
real-time sharing website, which has a focus on letting you share your files quick and move on. With Ge.tt, you can select files or can drag and drop them onto the site (if you have a supported browser), and then share the shortened URL like the other apps in this list, but a cool feature is that you don’t have to wait for your file to finish uploading before users download them.
You also don’t need an account to start uploading files, but acquiring a free account enables your files to live longer than 30 days, plus you get live statistics. You can also add or remove files, but any files that stay inactive in your account for more than 3 months will get removed. Like Crate, Ge.tt doesn’t allow the download of an entire share, so if you have multiple files to share, other users will have to click on each file to download them all.
Min.us started as a super-easy way to share good-looking image galleries, but nowadays, the storage service has expanded and thus, it now accepts other types of files, such as documents, and videos. You can drag and drop or select your files. Then, you can instantly view your file, add or remove files, as well as download the entire share, which will be in the form of a zip file. You can use the service without signing up, but with an account, you’ll have a a profile at
http://min.us/u/YOURusername like
this one, where you can publish files and galleries.
Be sure to explore
Steve’s article as he reviewed Min.us in more detail, back when the service was mostly for displaying great image galleries.
Behind minimalistic looks, these 3 sites offer plenty of features and could be great alternatives to Drop.io. I say, using any of these sites is as easy as using Dropbox’s Public folder, but let’s hear from you. What do you use to share your files instantly?
Image credit: Shutterstock
